Wet’n’Wild Gold Coast is a water park in Oxenford, Queensland, Australia, owned and operated by Village Roadshow Theme Parks. Construction began in 1982, and the park opened on September 30, 1984 as Cade’s County Waterpark, billed at the time as the largest water park in the Southern Hemisphere.
The park has changed names several times over the decades, settling on Wet’n’Wild Gold Coast in 2013 to distinguish it from its sister park, Wet’n’Wild Sydney. Sitting beside Warner Bros. Movie World, it now ranks as Australia’s most-visited water park, drawing an estimated 1.12 million guests in 2019 according to the AECOM Theme Index.
Stats at a Glance
- Location: Oxenford, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
- Operator: Village Roadshow Theme Parks
- Opened: September 30, 1984
- Water Slides: 17
- Pools: 4
- Annual Visitors: About 1.12 million (2019)
- Signature Attraction: Kamikaze, a Southern Hemisphere-first wet-and-dry slide
A Park That Changed Names Four Times
The park opened in 1984 as Cade’s County Waterpark, reportedly named after the son of an early owner. It became Cade’s County Wet’n’Wild in 1985, then simply Wet’n’Wild in 1986 once a licensing deal linked it to the international Wet’n’Wild brand.
Under Village Roadshow Theme Parks, it was renamed Wet’n’Wild Water World in 1997 to match the naming style of neighboring Sea World and Warner Bros. Movie World, before becoming Wet’n’Wild Gold Coast in 2013.
The Ride Experience
Across its four pools and 17 slides, the park’s lineup includes the Kamikaze, a wet-and-dry attraction billed as the first of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, and the Tornado, a ProSlide funnel ride that reaches speeds up to 40 km/h.
Other long-running favorites include the Constrictor, standing 18.37 meters tall and 166.7 meters long, the twin-tube Blackhole slides, the three-million-liter Giant Wave Pool dating to the park’s 1984 opening, and the Skycoaster, which drops riders from 50 meters up.
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Wet’n’Wild Gold Coast FAQs
When did Wet’n’Wild Gold Coast open?
It opened on September 30, 1984, originally under the name Cade’s County Waterpark.
Who owns Wet’n’Wild Gold Coast?
Village Roadshow Theme Parks, which also operates the neighboring Warner Bros. Movie World and Sea World on the Gold Coast.
How many slides does Wet’n’Wild Gold Coast have?
The park has 17 water slides spread across four pools, including the signature Kamikaze wet-and-dry ride.
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Photo: Hpfan9374 / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.